Temporary Tattoo
by Abitha Comet
Summary: After a fight with Dr. Doom, the team finds a small child buried under a pile of rubble. Turns out, said child is Steve Rogers. And Steve believes that the year is still 1926, much to Tony's disappointment. Pairings: Steve/Tony, Natasha/Clint, maybe others, but I'm not sure yet.
1. Prologue

**A/N: Hey! This story is about a de-aged Steve and his wacky adventures with the team... enjoy! I'm not sure what my updating schedule will be like... I start school again in two days, so when I get back into the swing of things there, I'll let you know.**

**Warnings: Male/Male romance (Stony)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any recognizable characters. Marvel does.**

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_**"Having children is like getting a tattoo... on your face. You better be committed." ~Eat Pray Love**_

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**Prologue**

Steve didn't know where he was, or what was happening. All he knew was that he was stuck in a cramped little space underneath a ton of rocks. He wasn't injured, just stuck. He sat there, huddled in a little ball, waiting for someone to get him out of there.

It took a little longer than Steve would have wished, but a few rocks finally fell away and he was able to see outside, a crisp breeze hitting his face. He shivered and tilted his back head to see a man with long blonde hair and a beard looking down at him. The man's blue eyes widened and his face disappeared from Steve's line of sight and he heard him shout, "I have found a small child in my search for the Captain!" in some sort of accent that he couldn't exactly place. Soon after that, more rocks were pulled away and a red and gold robot thing appeared along with the man with the long hair and a woman with short red hair.

The robot reached down to grab him but Steve flinched away and a small whine escaped his lips. He didn't know where he was and he wanted his mama. The woman with red hair swatted at the robot.

"Stop it, Stark," she hissed, "you're scaring him." She reached down with both hands and Steve stared at her green eyes for a few moments. He decided that she was safe and slipped his little hands into hers. She smiled kindly at him and pulled him up gently. Once he was up she set him on the ground and began checking him over. He backed away a little but she put a hand on his shoulder comfortingly. "I'm only checking you for injuries, sweetie," she said. "Are you hurting anywhere?"

Steve shook his head but didn't say anything. Natasha nodded once and backed away to look at him. While she was doing that, Steve looked around. Everything was so _big _and futuristic looking and bright. Natasha's eyes widened a moment later and she whispered something to the long-haired man and the robot. The robot scoffed and shook it's head. The front of its face flipped back with a loud 'clank' sound and a man's face was revealed. Steve tilted his head, examining him. He had brown eyes and black hair, along with a moustache and a beard. He had a skeptical look on his face, like he didn't believe the red haired lady about whatever she'd said.

The lady scowled and turned back to Steve as another man landed out of nowhere behind them. He had dark blonde hair and blue eyes and a bow with a quiver on his back. Then another… another _thing _landed with an extremely loud 'thud' beside them. It was green and huge and scary looking and Steve let out a small whimper and backed away again. Natasha knelt down and reached out to put a hand on his cheek, and he allowed her to do so.

"It's alright, sweetie," she reassured. "None of us will hurt you, I promise. Do you believe me?"

Steve's lower lip trembled but he nodded. She hadn't lied to him yet or done anything bad to him. He still wanted his mama to come, though.

"I'm Natasha," she continued, pointing at herself. Then she pointed at the robot-man, "he's Tony," her finger moved to the long haired man, "that's Thor," Natasha pointed at the man with the bow, "he's Clint," and last, she pointed at the man that the green monster had changed into. He now wore a too large pair of pants, "and that's Bruce. Can you tell me your name?"

The blonde nodded again. "I'm Steven Rogers," he told her with an adorable Brooklyn accent and all the men she had just introduced shifted nervously.

"How old are you?" Natasha asked. Steve held up four fingers on his right hand.

"I'm four."

She bit her lip but continued asking him questions. "Who do you live with and where?"

"I live with my mama… and papa… in Brooklyn."

Natasha nodded. "One more question, honey, and then I can help you." Steve nodded. "Do you know what year it is?"

"It's 1926, ma'am," Steve replied quietly.

All the adults around him were quiet until Steve spoke again. "Do you know where I am? Or where my mama is?"

Natasha looked up nervously at the men before back at Steve. "You're mother and father are going to be away for a little while, okay Steve? Until then we'll look after you. And you're in New York City. Come with me, yeah?"

She wrapped her arms around his waist and lifted him off the ground. Steve let out a surprised yelp and wound his arms around her neck. He wrapped his legs around her waist and dug his fingers into the slick fabric of her shirt. Steve turned his head so his cheek was brushing her ear and watched where she was carrying him. He tried to, at least. He was really tired, and he let out a big yawn.

"Sleep," Natasha ordered, lifting him higher up her body. Steve nodded sleepily and buried his face into the crook of her neck, sighing contently and falling asleep.

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**A/N: Hope you liked it! This is the first time I've attempted a kid-fic. It's kinda fun, actually! :) The chapters should get longer as it moves along. Please no flames, but constructive criticism is deeply appreciated. Do not confuse the two. **

**Thanks! :D**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: So, back with Chapter One! The last one was just the prologue. School starts in... 11 and a half hours. Wish me luck! :)**

**Thanks for the lovely reviews! Oh, and little followers and favorites, I see you over there. ;) **

**Disclaimer: I do not own any recognizable characters**

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**_"When I was younger, shopping helped me discover many new places and many new things." ~Miuccia Prada_**

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**Chapter One**

"He **_WHAT?!_**" a loud voice boomed, waking Steve from his slumber. He was sitting in someone's lap at a large table… oh right. It was Natasha's lap. Steve flinched at the loud voice and Natasha's hand was immediately on top of his head, running her fingers through his hair.

"I've told you two times already, sir," the woman said firmly. "He was hit by something that Dr. Doom made and when we found him, he was like this."

"You're telling me that my soldier—_my team leader_—is a _four year old?_" The man with the loud voice had an eye patch and dark skin. Natasha nodded once, along with the men from before. Huh. Steve hadn't realized that they were in the room with them. The man pinched his nose. "God dam—" he started, but was cut off by the man with the bow, Clint.

"Now, now, Fury," he said in a mocking voice. "No cursing in front of the kid."

Steve thanked Clint for that in his head, but it wasn't like he'd never heard them before. His father cursed a lot when he was drunk, even when he wasn't. Steve shuddered at the thought of his father and Natasha looked down at him.

"You alright?" she asked quietly and he nodded. She looked back up at the black guy, Fury, Clint had called him. What an odd name.

Fury turned to the ro—Tony, who was now simply wearing jeans, sneakers and a dark T-shirt. There was a strange, glowing, blue circle in the center of Tony's chest and Steve was instantly curious. He didn't want to be rude though, so he stayed where he was. "You can fix this, can't you Stark?" Tony nodded and said something about a boyfriend, but Steve wasn't really paying attention anymore.

After a few more minutes of listening to the adults yell at each other, they all stood up, Steve slipping onto the floor. He scampered over to Tony and looked up at him. The bearded man stared down at him for a few moments before offering a grin. Steve smiled back. Before he could stop himself, he asked, "What's that thing on your chest?"

His hands immediately went to his mouth, gasping at how rude that had been of him, invading someone's personal information like that. Tony chuckled and ruffled Steve's hair. The child shrunk a little under the weight of the hand but giggled.

"I'll explain it on the way back to our Tower, where we'll be staying," he assured, lifting Steve from the ground. Steve decided that he liked Tony too, just like Natasha. He wrapped his small arms around Tony's neck and fisted his shirt on his back. "You ever been in an airplane?"

Steve shook his head. "I never been in a car, or outta Brooklyn."

"Then this will be a new experience for you!" Tony cheered, switching Steve to his other hip and walking out of the room, followed by the others except Fury. "I'll have someone bring some stuff for you to do and then I'll tell you about the light in my chest. You like drawing, right?"

Steve nodded excitedly. He _loved _drawing, but back at home, he'd never really had anything to draw on where he lived. Usually he drew on old newspapers or on the back of papers that he'd already used. He didn't have very many crayons, and he was amazed to see that there was a box full of _sixty _crayons, all of them sharp and ready to be used!

* * *

Turns out Steve didn't like planes. Or, he didn't like heights. Either one. After being explained by Tony that the light in his chest was an "arc reactor", Steve had colored in a picture of Iron Man, having been informed by Tony who Iron Man and the Avengers were, staying in the lines until he started to feel a little sick to his stomach. He'd curled up on the chair beside Tony, burrowed into his side and closed his eyes.

Steve had been carried off the plane when they reached their destination, his chin resting on Tony's shoulder and his small fists gripping his shirt. It was late and the next thing he knew, he was lying on a huge, soft bed. It was amazing compared to the lumpy couch he usually slept on. All the four year old wanted to do was curl up and fall asleep, but Tony stopped him. Steve made a sound of protest as he was pulled into a sitting position.

"You should get into pajamas first, kid," he informed him, digging around in the dresser that was in the room and pulling out a large blue T-shirt. Tony yanked Steve's shirt over his head and pulled off his shoes and jeans, leaving him in his underwear and socks. Steve blushed deeply but it went unnoticed by Tony, who simply pulled the T-shirt down over his head. The shirt drowned his small frame, but it was soft and comfy and Steve fell back onto the bed. Tony lifted him up and scooted him further back on the bed, tucking him in with the very warm blanket. The man leaned over and pressed a tender kiss to Steve's forehead before leaving.

Steve was almost asleep when Natasha entered the room almost silently, carrying something in her left hand. She lay whatever it was beside him and kissed his temple. The child made a questioning sound, his eyes opening to slits.

"I found this down in Tony's stuff," she whispered. "I don't know why he had it, nor for how long, but I thought you'd like it."

Steve moved his hand on top of it, running his fingers over it and realizing that it was a blanket. He tugged it closer to his body and buried his nose in it, inhaling deeply. He smiled and thanked Natasha before falling asleep completely.

* * *

The next morning, Steve woke up in a strange place. He began to panic a little but then remembered what had happened yesterday. He was with Tony and Natasha and their friends. With a little bit of struggling, he managed to get down off the bed and onto the floor, holding the blankie to his chest. He wrapped it around his shoulders like a cape and ran out of the room, not exactly knowing where he was going.

When he reached what appeared to be the kitchen, he found Natasha sitting at the table sipping something from a mug along with the archer. The two smiled at him and offered him breakfast, but Steve declined for now, saying he wasn't too hungry, which he wasn't. There was never too much food where he lived, so he didn't really have a big appetite.

Steve scurried off, searching for one room in particular. When he found it, he grinned widely. Tony's room. He walked into the room quietly, standing at the side of the bed with the bedside table. He couldn't see Tony over the top of it, but he could hear his steady breathing, maybe even a little bit of snoring. Steve giggled and managed to climb up, sitting on Tony's stomach. The man let out a short grunt and he cracked his eyes open. He grinned when he saw Steve beaming down at him, wrapped in his blanket. The man rolled over, bringing Steve down to his side as he did so.

"Did you sleep well, kid?" he asked, enveloping Steve in his arms. Steve nodded and sighed contently. "I see Natasha gave you a blanket."

Steve nodded again and brought the blanket to his face. "It smells good."

Tony smiled weakly, as if something had saddened him. Steve's happy face immediately fell. "I-I'm sorry! Did I say something wrong?"

"No, no," Tony reassured, sitting up. "No you didn't. You're fine."

Steve let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, good. I don' want you to be sad."

Tony asked Steve if he wanted breakfast after changing into a long-sleeved T-shirt and a pair of jeans. Steve nodded eagerly and darted out of the room, shortly followed by Tony. In the kitchen, Steve climbed up onto a chair at the table and practically vibrated. The man who had had the bow yesterday chuckled.

"Who would have thought food would be that exciting," he snickered, taking a bite out of an apple. Steve blinked at him for a few moments, trying to recall who he was. When he remembered, he frowned and nodded.

"We don't really gots a lot of food at home," he said sadly. "But you guys have lots a food, right?"

Steve almost felt bad for assuming that they did, but the plane he had been on had had the work _Stark _on it, and then another big word that Steve couldn't read, but it started with an _I, _so if that plane belonged to Tony, then that meant he probably had a lot of money, right?

Tony trudged into the room and poured water into a black machine. Steve tilted his head in confusion and the man smirked.

"This is a coffee machine," he explained. "You know what coffee is, right?" Steve nodded. "Well, I need coffee every morning so I can function."

Steve nodded before realizing that he was thirsty, too. So, quietly, he asked, "Do you have any milk?"

"_Do _I?" Tony said loudly, whirling around. "Of course I do! Would you like some?"

Steve nodded again and Tony opened the refrigerator. He pulled out a large, white jug and a plastic cup and poured some milk into the cup. After setting it on the table in front of the four year old, Tony went back to the coffee machine. Steve picked the cup up with two hands and took a sip from it and put it down with a soft, "Ah."

Bruce shuffled into the room then and he picked up a newspaper (finally, something he recognized!) and began to read it. The man with the long hair, Thor, walked in after him with a loud, "Good morning, SHIELD friends!"

The other four adults chorused a "Good morning, Thor" without stopping what they were doing. Clint had begun to cook something, and it smelled so good to Steve. While Clint was doing that, Natasha started to speak.

"We've got a lot to do today," she announced, putting her mug down. "Banner, Stark, one or both of you needs to figure out a way to reverse… our situation. Clint, you can come with me to buy Steve some new clothes that will fit him. Tony, I need your money for that. I don't know how much we're going to end up getting. Thor, I guess you can just do whatever you want today."

Tony nodded, taking a huge gulp of his coffee. "Bruce and I'll go talk to Richard's tomorrow so we can take the kid with us. Until then we'll talk via video chat."

"Sounds like a plan," Clint voiced, placing a plate full of pancakes and bacon in front of Steve. The four year old had never had so much food at once; he took a big bite of his pancake, and then ate half a piece of bacon in one mouthful. The adults around him chuckled.

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Later at the mall, Natasha helped Steve out of the car and the little boy slipped his hand into hers. He smiled up at her and she smiled back, while Clint was locking the care behind them. They made their way to the entrance and when they got in, Steve let out a small gasp. There were so many _stores _in there and it was so _big! _There were little kids running around and parents chasing after them and some teenagers with a bajillion bags hanging from their arms like the bags were hangers and their arms were bars.

Natasha tugged him to the right and into a store full of clothes for little kids like him. Steve let go of the woman's hand and darted across the room to a rack that had some polo shirts hanging from it and he picked out a blue one, holding it up for Natasha and Clint to see.

"I like this," he stated. Natasha grinned and took the shirt from him, searching for his size of extra small. Clint found a pair of jeans and showed them to the child and Steve shrugged. He was more into khakis than jeans, anyway. Clint nodded once and put them back onto the table from which he got them. Steve picked out two pairs of khaki pants and handed them to Natasha, and then Steve picked a pair of blue converse and then a pair of black Doc Marten boots. And then he froze.

"What's the matter, sweetie?" Natasha asked, bending over to try and see what he was looking at. "What are you looking at?"

Steve pointed to the back of the store where there was a bunch of colorful T-shirts, all of them with the Avengers on them. The child walked up to the Iron Man one and pointed at it, jumping up and down and squealing. Natasha pulled down one in his size and slung it over her arm.

"You like Iron Man, huh," Natasha commented, smiling at how she thought Tony would react to that. Steve nodded excitedly.

"Yeah! He's the bestest Avenger, Tony sayed so. And he told me that Hawkeye _sucks!_" Steve replied, frowning at the mention of Hawkeye. Clint had a strange look on his face, Steve realized.

"Hawkeye's not _that _bad," he insisted, but he was ignored by Natasha.

"Don't say sucks, Steve," she scolded. "Do you want any more superhero shirts? There's a Black Widow one, a Thor one, a Captain America one—"

"And a Hawkeye one!"

"—and a Hulk one! Do you like the Hulk?"

Steve nodded uncertainly. "Tony sayed he's pretty cool, but that he's kinda scary. An' I 'member when you found me in the rocks, he was scary. But I think that he's just mis…misu…misin—"

"Misunderstood?" Natasha supplied. Steve nodded.

"Yeah. I think that the Hulk is just miss-un-der-stood," he said, sounding out each syllable. He seemed very proud of himself. "Can I have a Hulk T-shirt an' a Cap'n 'merica T-shirt?"

"Of course you can," Natasha said, pulling them down and thrusting all the clothes into Clint's arms, surprising the man. "We're going to pay for those now."

Clint grumbled something before walking towards the checkout, shortly followed by Tasha and Steve. Steve let out a shrill squeal and he grabbed Natasha's jacket, causing both her and Clint to stop walking. The blonde pointed to a blue jacket hanging on the end of a rack. It had a white star on the chest and a white hood and Steve cried,

"I have to have that!"

He knew that it sounded a little crazy that he _"had to have it" _but he _wanted _it _so bad! _Steve didn't usually get what he wanted because his mother couldn't pay for it with her low-paying job, and his father sure wouldn't buy anything for him, but he thought that now it was different. Because Tony had so much money, Steve thought that it was okay. People in 1926 that had a lot of money bought lots of stuff… right?

Clint grabbed the jacket from the hook and put it onto the pile of clothes in his arms and the lady at the cash register said, "Next!"

When Clint laid all the stuff on the counter, Steve saw the ladies eyes widen just a little bit and then go back to normal. She began doing something to the tags on the clothes… Steve didn't know what. It had a red light involved, though. The lady caught him staring and she smiled at him.

"Hi!" she chirped. "What's your name, cutie?"

"Steve," Steve replied shyly.

"Are all these for you, Steve?"

Steve nodded. The lady looked back at Clint and Tasha.

"Is he yours? He's adorable."

Both shook their heads immediately and Clint turned a light shade of pink.

"N-No, he's my cousin's nephew," Natasha said quickly. The lady looked a bit shocked, but shrugged and went back to scanning the clothes. After she was done, both Tasha and Clint grabbed two bags each and made their way back to their car.

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**A/N: So... how was that? Enjoyable? Awful? (I hope not the latter). Anyway, yeah. Like I said. School starts again tomorrow, so I'm not positive what my update schedule will be like. Hopefully I won't have to make you wait. :) ****  
**

**Thanks for reading! :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Sorry it took so long, folks. I'm thinking I'll update once every week, not positive on which day's though. **

**So this one has some kind of boring stuff in most of it, it's a bunch of Science-bros plus Reed Richards talking and blah blah blah, but at the end I added a little fluffy scene between Thor, Steve and Clint. Hope that makes up for it! :)**

**Disclaimer: Any recognizable characters belong to Marvel. **

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_"Confusion is a word we have invented for an order which is not understood." ~Henry Miller_

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**Chapter Three**

Steve woke to the sun shining directly in his eyes.

He moaned slightly and rolled over, bringing the thick blanket up over his face. Someone nudged him in the side gently and Steve grunted in response.

"Steve," a familiar voice said quietly, tugging the blanket down off of his small body. Steve let out a sound of protest and sat up, glaring at the perpetrator. It was Tony. "Steve, we have to go. Bruce and I will take you out to get breakfast, but my friend Reed is having a meeting with us today."

"Why do I have to go?" the four year old moaned, flopping back down on the bed. "It's like, one in the morning!"

"Actually, it's seven-thirty, and hey! I thought kids your age were supposed to be full of energy in the morning!" Tony realized, raising an eyebrow at Steve.

Steve shrugged. "Why do I have to go?" he repeated. "Why can't I stay here with Tasha an' Clint an' Thor?"

"Because," Tony huffed, "Bruce and I need you to come with us. Look, I sent Thor yesterday to pick up some toys for you, and we can bring them with us, so you should be happy."

Steve heaved a sigh and sat up again, climbing out of the huge bed. Tony helped him into a pair of khakis, his Iron Man shirt (of course), his converse and his jacket. Steve slipped his hand into Tony's as they walked out of the room and Tony looked down in surprise. Steve stared at their hands for a moment before moving to pull his away. But Tony squeezed it gently before he could.

"It's alright," he said. Steve beamed at him as they found Bruce waiting in the kitchen.

Tony insisted that he should be able to drive, as it was his own car, but Bruce declined. He said that Tony should barely be allowed to drive _himself _let alone a _child, _so Bruce drove. They stopped at this place called Starkbucks™ and Tony ordered himself and Bruce a coffee and a hot chocolate for Steve. Steve pressed his nose against the glass, looking at all the yummy looking snacks. He saw the small bite sized apple pie and gasped quietly, tugging on Tony's shirt. The man looked down at him and saw Steve pointing at the pie, and Tony chuckled. He ordered two for Steve and then they left, Steve biting into his mini apple pie.

By the time they reached the building they had been driving to, Steve had finished both of the mini pies and was working on his hot chocolate. He followed the two adults in but apparently he was too slow for Tony's liking, so the man scooped Steve up in his arms. The child tensed a little bit but then relaxed, carefully sipping from the plastic cup he was holding. Steve looked back at Bruce, who was carrying a large bag full of what Steve assumed was filled with toys. He removed the cup from his lips and asked,

"Is blankie in there?"

Bruce nodded. "Yup. Every toy we've gotten you is in here, trust me."

They went up what Tony explained was an _elevator _for a while. Steve was fascinated by it and he insisted that he be put down. He nearly fell over when they reached their floor, but was steadied by Tony's large hands. The big metal doors slid open with a soft _whirring _sound and Steve followed Bruce and Tony inside, standing right beside Tony. There was a man wearing a lab coat inside, tinkering with some kind of machine. And then he did something that surprised Steve; he reached over to the desk that was closest to him, which was across the room, and his arm _got longer! _Steve scooted behind Tony even more.

He didn't think that this guy was a bad guy, because why would Tony bring him to a place with a bad guy? Tony wouldn't do that, right? And Bruce wouldn't, either. He was pulled from his thoughts when Tony lifted him from the ground again.

"Steve, this is my, ah, friend, Reed Richards," Tony introduced. Oh, so he was a friend of Tony's. That was okay. "Reed, this is Steve, but you already knew that."

Reed waved, looking up from his machine long enough to give Steve a small smile. The four year old hid his face in the crook of Tony's neck shyly. The brunette man holding him adjusted him on his hip to look at him.

"Reed has a little space over there for you to play in." He pointed across the room at a small area covered with pillows and blankets and a short gate that Steve was barely taller than. Tony placed him inside and Steve pouted, standing up.

"I don' need a gate!" he insisted. "I'm a big boy!"

"Just stay in there, Steve, please?" Tony sighed, turning his head to look at where Bruce and Reed had begun talking. "Look, here's your toys!" Tony dumped the big bag of stuffed animals and action figures into the play area, and Steve immediately went for the blanket, wrapping it around his shoulders like he'd done the previous morning.

Steve pawed through the toys for a while and found a stuffed Labrador Retriever and he gasped, grabbing it and hugging it to his chest. He _loved _labs! Steve remembered seeing one once on the sidewalk when his mama had taken him to the market with her. It was big and yellow and had a pretty blue collar. She had told him what it was and since then, Labradors had been his favorite animal.

Setting the stuffed animal gently on the floor beside him, Steve grabbed the Iron Man action figure and the Captain America one. He stared at the Captain America one for a while, wondering where he was. Because if Tony was Iron Man, Bruce was the Hulk, Clint was Hawkeye (eew), Natasha was the Black Widow and Thor was Thor, who was left to be the Captain? Steve made a mental note to ask Tony or Tasha about that later.

Meanwhile, over at the desk with all the computers on it, the three geniuses discussed the issue of Steve being turned into a child.

"And you're sure you have _no _idea what Doom hit him with?" Bruce pressed, leaning heavily against the table. "No theories at all?"

Reed shook his head. "I don't. I'm not even sure why he went after the Avengers instead of the Four." The man scratched the back of his neck. "He's really our biggest enemy."

"Maybe he thinks you guys are getting old," Tony teased, glancing over at Steve, who was playing happily with the Avengers action figures. He also noticed that the boy seemed to have taken a liking to the stuffed dog Thor had gotten him. Tony smiled at the sight. "But anyway, why would Doom even _want _Steve to be a kid?"

"Maybe it wasn't what the machine was intended to do," Reed suggested, shrugging. "Maybe it was made simply to blow him up."

"Unless…" Bruce began, causing the other two men to turn to him. "Unless this is how Doom wanted it."

Reed and Tony appeared confused, so Bruce clarified. "Think about. If the leader to a team is out of commission, what's the team going to do?"

"Nothing," Tony gasped. "They'd be completely lost! Just like us!"

Mister Fantastic took this into consideration. "It's possible," he pondered. "But why the Avengers?"

Tony shrugged. "We'll figure that out later. For now we just need to find a way to get him back to normal."

"Tony!"

They all turned to the sound of Steve's voice, finding him standing up, hands gripping the rail of the gate and standing on his tip-toes.

"Tony, can you let me out?" Steve asked, giving the man his best puppy-dog face.

"Why?" Tony asked, walking over to the gate and standing in front of the boy.

"'cause I'm bored. Can I see what you're doing?"

The man glanced back at the other two scientists and Reed nodded.

"I need a blood sample anyway. Bring him over."

Steve grabbed his stuffed dog and blankie and lifted his arms, ready for Tony to lift him out of the pen. Once he was in the brunette's arms, Steve pressed his cheek against Tony's. He was carried over to the other two men and placed on a metal table and Reed pulled out a needle. A needle! Steve began to panic, knowing what was coming next. He struggled to get back to Tony and Bruce noticed, nudging Tony in the shoulder.

The child burrowed into Tony's side after he sat down as Reed held up his arm, cleaning the crook of his elbow with a cold, nasty smelling thing. Steve shuddered. Reed tied a band tight around Steve's upper arm and asked,

"Can you clench your hand into a fist for me, Steve?"

The little boy nodded and did as he was told. He winced a little when he felt the needle slide into his arm, but it was over as quick as it came.

"You did great, Steve," Tony praised, lifting Steve into his lap as he listened to what Reed had to say.

There were some beeping noises and Reed stared at a computer screen for a few moments before he announced,

"There are still traces of the serum in his body, but not as much as before. And not _nearly _enough to accomplish anything that he did before the incident."

"So is there a way to fix this?" Tony asked, bouncing Steve on his knee slightly. Steve giggled and played with Bucky, his lab's name.

Reed shrugged. "Possibly. I'm not positive how Doom's tech works, so it could take a while. A couple weeks at least. And even then I'm not one hundred percent sure if all of the serum he had before would still be in his blood. It might just be the amount that he has right now."

Steve looked up at Tony from his position on his lap and asked, "What are you talkin' 'bout?"

"Nothing that you need to worry about, Steve," Tony assured, ruffling the child's hair. Steve squealed a wiggled off of Tony's lap and he scurried to the other side of the room, a grin growing across his face. He brought Bucky's head to his lips and peered over the ears at the older man. The billionaire chuckled and stood up, beginning to chase Steve around. Bruce turned to Reed.

"But you _can _change him back?" he prompted, playing with his glasses. Reed nodded.

"Most likely, yes, I can," the fellow scientist replied. "I might need help though if we want to get it done anytime soon."

"I'll help then," Bruce promised. "Stark can keep Steve busy while we work on getting him back to normal."

Mister Fantastic nodded again. "Sounds like a plan."

* * *

Later that day, at around one in the afternoon, Steve sat at the kitchen table swinging his feet back and forth while Clint got himself a glass of juice. Steve tilted his head to the side as he watched the man do this and he realized, _Hey! I like juice!_

"Clint?" he asked slowly, as if he were hesitant about asking for juice. The man turned around with a smile.

"What can I do for ya, bud?" he asked, leaning back against the counter.

"May I have some juice?" Clint laughed.

"Sure, buddy!" While he turned to pour some into a plastic cup Tony had gotten Steve, Thor walked into the room and opened a cabinet door, pulling out something wrapped in silver.

"Was'sat?" Steve questioned, sipping from his cup of apple juice and let out a soft "Mm."

Thor looked at the thing in his hand and said, "This, young friend Steve, is what the Mid-guardians call and _Poptart."_

"What's a poptart?" Steve wondered, confused.

"It's like a toaster strudel only with a lot more sugar," Clint clarified. "They're pretty good; Thor's obsessed with them. You want to try one?"

Steve nodded and Thor handed him one out of the package, munching on the other himself. The child stared at it for a moment before taking a small nibble out of it. His eyes went wide; he'd never even tasted something this good! Steve took more greedy bites before realizing he probably looked really rude doing that so he slowed down, taking smaller bites like his mama had taught him. _Savor the food. _

Both the men around him laughed at the sight and Steve giggled. He liked these new people! They were so nice and friendly to him, he barely even thought about his mama at all! He finished the Poptart and he heard Tony calling him from in the other room, so he got up and scurried off to see what that was about.

* * *

**A/N: Enjoyable? Not? Please leave a review! All you are lovely! I see you over there, Followers and Favoriters! (That's not a word, but it should be) I have to go to school in... ten minutes so enjoy this chapter while I do that. :)**

**Thanks!**


	4. AN PLEASE READ

**A/N: (IMPORTANT PLEASE READ)(**

**Okay, um, please throw that "I think I'll update every week" crap in the trash while I sneak my way back in here...**

**Anyway, I'm uber sorry that I haven't updated lately. I'm kind of going through a rough time, along with my entire school. I'm working hard on the next chapter, though. **

**I don't know if anyone heard (this made international news) but a family near here named the Peterson's recently died. I'm not going into detail about how they died, but one of them, Chris Peterson, went to my school and he was in my grade. My whole school wore black the day after it happened, when everyone knew, white the next day and red the next in honor of his family. **

**The church that his family went to had this big candle light thing that everyone went to and it was really nice. I'm not religious myself but I was happy (or sad, depending on the way you look at it) to go. :)**

**So, yeah. The next chapter IS in progress, I PROMISE. So don't think that I went and fell off the face of the Earth, because I didn't. **

**R.I.P Peterson Family 3**


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